Please take a minute, just 1:20 (one minute and 20 seconds) of time and watch. Then allow yourself to think about a better world. We are each the seeds of that better world. It's seems it's much easier to say, "all we need is love" than it is to actually live our lives with love and peace being our goals. We do have busy lives, children to care for, payments to make, shopping to do, all the things that make up our daily lives. How much time do we take to think about the words we use? Do we share our Love?

I'm so FRIGGIN' sick of people robotically responding to programmed responses, instead of using their intelligence to realize that they have become tools of imperialism. A system that has no interest in their own welfare, children's lives . . .

I can't POSSIBLY be alone in my recognition that this concentration on "deficit vs. human needs" *capitalism gone insane") is contrary to the acknowledgment of embracing humanity and its predominant screaming plea for survival, under conditions created by the greed of uninvolved influences, none of which they precipitated or controlled.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 10:28 am
Hate is such a stupid emotion - it accomplishes nothing positive, harms the one who has it AND the recipients, and keeps us all from accomplishing what we otherwise might get done. Hate because of bigotry is the dumbest of all - it merely signifies ignorance or fear or both.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 10:33 am
Love the video. We all need to work to stop the hate that is destroying mankind in not only America, but all around the world. So much prejudice, nasty treatment of people one considers to be "different", of those who to dare to take a stand for a wrongdoing, and the pure bigotry that is a stain on our society. We can do it, only if we try, and it begins with us. Thanks, Kit.

Hate is a propagandized/programmed reflex (usually induced by another fear-induced/self-protective purposely methodical and proven results, used by a parasitic, and self-serving sociopath for manipulative purposes).

STOP being a victim. Make the conscious choice to decide for yourself.

I don't know where my last went. I was addressing Carole but that could be addressed to anyone that found this video evoked emotion. I think about where this hate has it's origins. Are humans just built to have instinctive hate? Personally, I don't think so.

I do think that by using carefully selected language, by actually empowering a reaction of hate, our elected leaders gain from our reactions. No one dares to say hate this group, or that country, it's all far more subtle than that. For some many generations we have been taught to hate. Hate is very useful, by engendering hate, we create an enemy, that in turn is necessary for war.

There is just too much use of the word war; war on foreign lands, war on drugs, war on women, war on education, war on Fracking, war on poverty, war on hunger, war on_____ fill in the blank. We use words like war, fight, battle, assault, because we have been taught to use that thinking.

Let find a different meaning for those things that we want viewed as positive, let's try to drop the war lexicon in favor words that do not make the other an enemy. We can work to end discrimination, hunger, addiction, Fracking, Poverty by using more positive language. What we really want to is to feed people, to lift education, to end any form of discrimination, to treat addiction....you get where I am going with this train of thought.

If we think differently we can end the some of the hate language. First and foremost we all just humans, living in desperate poverty or the richest person on earth, we are all just frail humans.

To borrow some words from times gone by, "Come on people now smile on your brother (sister)....."
No, I'm not that naive, I don't ask that you love everyone, just that you not hate, or that you pause and reflect before using hate language. It really does hurt.

Just my thoughts. Care2 is a wonderful place, we can learn so much about many different ideas, current news, sign petitions all of this helps to make each of us a little smarter about our world, and just a bit more active than we might be without this resource. Even on care2 we cannot escape hate or hate-filled language. Though very difficult to always follow through, I do try more lately to not play into that language. There are titles that inflame a sense of righteous indignation, as do the contents of those articles. I know who will be there, and time has taught us all what will be said. I decided the best thing is to just click them as "unworthy" just as I click on SPAM.

I am not infringing on their right to speech, just using a device to "calm the brow". None of us can fully isolate from unpleasant things. We sure can give it try. I don't come here to fight with others, I come here to learn from others, to be abreast of current events and enjoy my friends. I think it was Sheryl that said overtime many things she once believed have changed over time at Care2. I think many of us can say.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 1:35 pm
I tried to watch the video but it worked only for 37 seconds and stopped. I don't know what happened. May be there is a problem with my net connection or speed although I tried more than once.I believe that hatred is not a constructive behavior and must be abandoned. Thanks Kit.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 3:28 pm
No, John, you're not the only one. You never were. Amazing video, would that those people had been able to love out their natural life span, what a different world this would be. Since they couldn't, it is up to those of us who are still here to be their voices for them. For ourselves. And always remember, no matter what it looks like out your window, we are in truth, all one, now and forever. That thought alone could be what saves us - from ourselves, for ourselves.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 4:13 pm
read and noted on 3-31-13 all i have to say is it would be a welcome in today's society if no hatred took place but that's a very long shot to happen we will always have one or two idiots that will chime in it never fails i always say if you do not have nothing nice to say then keep your mouth shut and keep it to yourself we as human beings do not have to listen or deal with your bigorty of any sorts.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 4:34 pm
so many wise and great words here, other than John's. I fully agree with all of them. Can there be any greater perversity than to educate and teach hate-even if in a subtle way- while claiming to be a nation of faith and Christianity. When "in God you trust" you don't act in hate's ways.

I will however, admit ONE hate I harbor: that is directed at the permanent and annoying C2 glitches that can drive one nuts!
Thx Kit for this impressive reminder from the ADL.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 5:15 pm
Thanks Kit, I've watched this video before but am still moved by it. I'm struck by the headline, Mathew Shepard, age 36, leads anti-bullying campaign. Something that became particularly poignant to me after watching "Brokeback Mountain". We need to end our wars-whoever the enemy might be. Imagine what we could do, as the human race, if we stopped fighting each other.

Sunday March 31, 2013, 5:27 pm
Yes...well....if there were no more hatred, Matthew Shepard wouldn't NEED to fight bullying, would he?

This is a wonderful video and I wish it weren't needed. The problem is human tribalism. It's such a basic part of our natures (always has been) and I don't think we can really eliminate it. What we NEED to do is recognize and control it.

Part of this effort means to stop people who try to impose their religions on others. That's cultural imperialism and it's as wrong as racially oriented insults, gender-based violence and hatred of ''others."

Sunday March 31, 2013, 10:31 pm
I was extremely moved by this video and found myself actually imagining a world without hate. But the human genome is contradictory. We are emotional beings and I think what Pam said makes sense. We need to recognize that we all have a dark side but we can learn to control it thru positive actions. We must surround ourselves with good energy and by doing acts of kindness or standing up to hate, we can lead by example. It enough people do this publicly and routinely, others would start to follow. I hope this made sense, I am falling asleep on my computer lol. Thanks Kit.

“A child does not have to be taught how to be happy or the ways of love. It is fear, hatred, & prejudice that have to be taught. And from the condition of the world we can see that unfortunately there are some very good teachers.”

Monday April 1, 2013, 6:24 am
Wonderfully inspirational! If we all behaved as though we were on the same side, and on the other side were things like poverty, famine, etc. and then we worked together to share with and care for each other, the world would be a wonderful place to live in.

Monday April 1, 2013, 9:33 am
Something to wish for, hope for, but you can see the problem with humans just by reading the various comments underneath the video on YouTube.
If you understand a human being, then it makes other things much more understandable, and things will get better just because of that. Systems can't solve it, ideologies can't solve it, beliefs can't solve it, wishing or hoping can't solve it, they are tools and can be useful to improve things of course.

IMO, a person is an individual first. Not a skin color, or race, or culture, or gender, or belief, or any other of a myriad of divisions you can sub-divide the person into . If you understand the individual, then the other things tend to fall into line.

Monday April 1, 2013, 9:36 am
Poignant about King Jr. You can always tell a big being by the void they leave after they're gone (nobody as big to fill their shoes so to speak). Poignant about Anne Frank. She probably would've been a multi-prize winning author. But ironically her little diary is a best-selling book and made her famous of course.

Monday April 1, 2013, 1:29 pm
Good video, thanks. Sadly too many people get caught up in religious or ego-driven needs to be one up on other people, people of different cultures, colors, etc.
The idea that WE ARE ALL ONE is so threatening for so many people, that there is less difference between the various "races" of humans than within each "race," is incomprehensible when one does not think rationally, but only emotionally.
May all sentient beings be without suffering!
Namaste!

Monday April 1, 2013, 2:17 pm
When we begin to see that we are more alike than different and treat that fact with respect ... when there is no greed, power grabbing, takeover ... and instead a sharing of what is, then we can begin to imagine better times. Today those able to give may become tomorrow's needy, think about it.

As I watched, I found myself wanting to savour each person, to meditate on what might have been had hate not changed the course of history.

When a child is born, it is a clean slate, nothing written there. But as we grow and interact with family, then friends, then the outside world, our slate gets crowded with all sorts of thinks including hate. Without strong support systems, it can literally eat us alive.

When I was a child, I had a vision of the planet with a band-aid across it and people of all races and countries surrounding the earth holding hands.

About 17 years ago, I was helping a woman at the bank. It turned out that she a was Muslim from Bosnia. She asked me why I was treating her with such courtesy and showing an interest in her. I answered her with a question: when you cut your finger, what colour is your blood and does it hurt? I think she thought I was a bit wacko at first but she answered 'red and yes'. I simply replied 'me too.'

We have to work at not allowing hate to take over all the time. It is too easy to fall into our tribal ways, whatever the tribe is. We are not perfect, but we must persevere.

I like the last line on the video: "Stand up to bigotry and change the world!"

Tuesday April 2, 2013, 10:25 am
VERY Touching. i can imagine this. so Stand Up to hatred and bigotry.
The reality is children are born innocent to these feelings they have no hateful feelings but are taught them.
Think before youu speak It would be heaven on earth if our differances were put asie As Lynn says we all bleed red

Thursday April 4, 2013, 11:47 pm
It took me a lot less time to view this moving video than to read all the comments here & send out many well-deserved green stars!

At last I'm down here to make my comment!: I had never come across this video before. I have always loved John Lennon & his 'Imagine' lyrics. He expresses ideas I fully adhere to. I was very moved to see the excellent choice of people featured in the video to bring home the point of the terrible harm hate does- all people who died because of what they WERE as opposed to something they did, with the notable exception of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, whose civil rights actions & campaigns incited outrage & dread in the bigots & the white supremacists, who simply wanted to eradicate him & his work for progress in civil & human rights.

MLK did not miss the fact that the Vietnam War was being fought against people of a different race & spoke out on that issue: (excerpt) "We’re going to transform this neighborhood into a brotherhood. We have got to get rid of war. John Fitzgerald Kennedy said on one occasion that mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

And there is a war taking place today in a little Asian country. And the tragedy is that it is the most powerful, the richest nation in the world, that happens to be a predominantly white nation, at war with one of the smallest, poorest nations, that happens to be a colored nation...."

I can't help being struck by the fact that in recent US wars --ostensibly waged to remove offending ideologies ( whether communism; radical Islamic totalitarianism, Taliban diktats) &/or bring democracy to oppressed people-- the population in whose countries we are fighting eventually & inevitably become the targets of racist feeling & acts. US military personnel end up forgetting why we are 'there' (wherever that might be) and, overcome with racist feelings, become convinced that the 'enemy' is the population we are supposedly there to help & that any & all actions against them are justified by the war, whether they are combatants or not, guitly or not. (Abu Ghraib abuses; abuses at Afghanistan's US-run Bagram prison, to give but two examples )

I have encountered much hatred on C2; it is directed against Muslims & against people defending Palestinian rights or denouncing injustices & crimes against Palestinians. Those of us who speak out in favor of Palestinians, who are sensitive to the outrages they continually suffer, are systematically -& falsely-accused (among other things) of hating Jews, of being anti-Semites, of supporting Islamic extremism, of 'loving' radical Islamic extremists. (I have been accused of being an anti-Semite, &, when I offered evidence to the contrary, a self-hating Jew)

I have even read posts & comments on posts claiming that Islam is a "religion of hate" or hatred. What a foul, vile idea to spread, and many C2 members believe this & applaud!

I suspect that many of these hate-mongers would adher to this video & fail to realize any contradiction with their own racist views & intolerance. It's always the 'other guy' who's the racist & who's got progress to make in that area..

To keep up to date with hatred in the US:
From the SPLC 'Hate and Extremism' page: " The Southern Poverty Law Center monitors hate groups and other extremists throughout the United States and exposes their activities to law enforcement agencies, the media and the public. We publish our investigative findings online, on our Hatewatch blog, and in the Intelligence Report, our award-winning quarterly journal. We’ve crippled some of the country’s most notorious hate groups by suing them for murders and other violent acts committed by their members.

Since 2000, the number of hate groups has increased by 69 percent. This surge has been fueled by anger and fear over the nation’s ailing economy, an influx of non-white immigrants, and the diminishing white majority, as symbolized by the election of the nation’s first African-American president. ..."

I have not reprinted the entire text because of its length, nor have I reproduced all the links in the above excerpt.
The Southern Poverty Law Center also contains write-ups of other issues their work is involved in, besides 'Hate and Extremism', in sections entitled: 'Children at Risk'; 'Immigrant Justice'; 'LGBT Rights'; 'Teaching Tolerance', each of which can also be accessed simply by clicking the topic in the left-hand margin of the 'Hate and Extremism' page, which I've linked to above.

Also: The American Friends Service Committee - Quaker Values in Action (AFSC) is a wonderful activist group striving to make our country a better place with greater justice, tolerance, & a consistent emphasis on human & humane values, via lobbying & campaigning on a wide variety of issues ranging from expanding health care, reforming the criminal justice system (opposing both prolonged solitary confinement & prison privatization; advocating for 'healing' justice), supporing vital social programs to devising anti-war actions (promoting lasting peace with justice & advocating for deep cuts in Pentagon spending), as well as economic disparity vs economic equality (They quote Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “This is America’s opportunity to help bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. The question is whether America will do it.” ~from his last Sunday sermon, Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution .)

"AFSC has worked throughout the world in conflict zones, in areas affected by natural disasters, and in oppressed communities to address the root causes of war and violence."

"The American Friends Service Committee’s programs touch a wide range of issues, countries, and communities. What unites them is the unfaltering belief in the essential worth of every human being, non-violence as the way to resolve conflict, and the power of love to overcome oppression, discrimination, and violence."

The news section on their site also offers valuable items & updates on the issues that matter, that you might not find out about elsewhere.

They also tell you what bills are on the table at state & federal levels & give you the opportunity to express your support for or opposition to them

I forgot to add something about two of the people featured in the video: Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated, I believe, by an Israeli right-wing pro-settler fanatic opposed Rabin's peace-making efforts (so Rabin, like Dr MLK Jr.? was killed for his actions, his policies); and Daniel Pearl, the WSJ's foreign correspondent in the Middle East, who was on location in extremist-harboring Pakistan, dangerous & treacherous to this day. Thinking he had made a valuable contact for his ongoing journalistic investigation, he was in fact set up by radical Islamic extremist terrorists. And the most moving thing (that still brings tears to my eyes) is how he boldly admitted to being Jewish and faced death proclaiming his pride in his heritage. I have read two books about his tragic fate, the one written by that show-offy French philosopher cum self-appointed world-affairs commentator, Bernard Henri-Levy, and the memoir, 'A Mighty Heart,' written by Pearl's widow, the magnificent Mariane Pearl (magnificent in soul & heart, as demonstrated in the memoir).

And talk about tolerance, ending hatred, embracing our brothers & sisters of different ethnies, races (though i don't really accept that term; it's a misconception disproven by biologists), religions, nationalities & tribes, as embodied in the Native American concept, "Mitakuye Oyasin": I just wiki-ed Mariane Pearl to discover she was born in a Paris suburb "to a Dutch father and a Cuban mother of Afro-Chinese-Cuban descent" !
And she "is a practicing Nichiren Buddhist and a member of Soka Gakkai International."

The Wiki article has taken me to a NYTimes article about 'A Mighty Heart,' & Mariane Pearl in the aftermath of Daniel Pearl's death, in which I just read (my throat tightening) :
"In conversation and in her book she spoke angrily about Kamran Khan, special correspondent for The Washington Post in Pakistan, who also was a reporter for the English-language Pakistani paper 'The News'. She said it was Mr. Khan who first revealed in print, in the Pakistani paper, that Daniel Pearl was Jewish. ''That's like a DEATH SENTENCE in that part of the world,'' Ms. Pearl said. ''I have never heard anything from The Washington Post.'' (I had completely forgotten this!)

Being Jewish a death sentence! I grew up in NYC where nobody ever hesitated to talk about their ethnic background, where everyone necessarily had roots going back to somewhere else, but I noticed immediately in France that Jews I later became friends with did not freely volunteer that information.

Friday April 5, 2013, 7:04 am
Forgot to add: When I noticed that in France Jews did not freely volunteer that information, I got a very uneasy feeling, very uneasy. The final proof of brotherhood & tolerance existing is being able to say what you are, without any hesitation.

Sunday April 7, 2013, 3:17 pm
There are two things I've wanted to add to this thread for a few days, but haven't had the time to come back.

First of all, I don't want to give the impression that the majority of French people are anti-Semites. A few years ago (2006), when a terrible crime took place here in a Paris suburb, (a young French Jew, Ilan Halimi --- deliberately lured by an attractive & (i imagine) sexy girl of North African -Algerian, Moroccan or Tunisian- immigrant background acting as the bait, the accomplice of a gang of thugs, equally from the same poor racially imbalanced suburb (another way of saying a ghetto) --- was kidnapped by the gang, acting on the premise that Jews are rich & that Jews act with community solidarity, so that they, the gang of delinquents, could get a big ransom for the young Jew, even if his family was poor &/or just ordinarily middle class (which they were), for Jews would band together and contribute to a big ransom for freeing the young Jew. Well, the gang of delinquents & their 'leader,' a young African anti-Semitic misfit, were so inexperienced & inept that they completely fouled up several attempts at a ransom exchange operation, Now, while they were pathetically trying to figure out how to get the ransom, Ilan Halimi was being held captive in the cellar boiler room of a low-income housing project apartment house, tied up on a dirty old matress, and tortured on & off by members of the gang who had established a rotation system of taking turns supervising him & bringing him food & torturing him. [The period of his captivity corresponded to an important religious period for Muslims, so certain gang members insisted on being free from surveillance duty at certain times of the day, so that they could go & pray. I was dumbfounded when I read the account of this {the whole story later came out in the press}, because how could a religious person possibly participate in such a kidnapping?? & what would this young man, religious enough to insist on attending prayers at the mosque on high holy days, while at the same time being part of a gang holding a tied-up Jew captive, & torturing him, possibly say to his God in his prayers??]

I've gone off on a long tangent to give the background, because the real story is that they eventually tortured him so badly, including burning him -partially in frustration at failing to get any ransom- that when they released him near a suburban highway- a young, handsome guy in his early twenties who had been strong, healthy, energetic- Ilan Halimi was so weakened, so terribly injured, that he managed to only to walk some short distance, barely dragging himself before collapsing and dying. This terrible crime & the tragic fate of this young man became THE news story of the day & many days to follow, & when it was announced that a mémorial service was to be held at Paris' main Synagogue & that everyone could to attend, hundreds & hundreds of people showed up, far more than the Synagogue could possibly contain. The sidewalks & the streets in the immediate vicinity of the Synagogue were packed with people come to pay their respects, show their solidarity with an innocent young man who died an excrutiating death for the sole reason that he was Jewish, and manifest their opposition to hate crimes & anti-Semitism. You couldn't move, so packed was the whole area (i was there, wearing a Jewish star for the first time in my life) Many of the people in the crowd were not Jewish; many hundreds of non-Jewish French were there because they needed to act & stand up against hate crimes & anti-Semitism! So, I had to tell this long story to be fair to the French, after what I had said in my previous comments.

If French Jews today or 35 yrs ago when I first came to live in France, do not freely volunteer that info about themselves to strangers, it's because they do not know who they are dealing with & experience has taught them to be cautious. They realize that the person they are conversing with could very well be an anti-Semite and could very well have a hostile attitude towards Jews. But that doesn't mean that every Frenchman or woman is in fact hostile towards Jews.

I also wanted to add that there is dangerous anti-Semitism in the US, that I, growing up among Jews, Italians, Armenians, in NY, did not suspect. I would like to draw your attention to another recent post of mine which gives a reliable, fact-based idea of the anti-Semites in the US, the content of their prejudice & hatred (scary, deranged) & the hate groups they belong to: White Supremacists React With Glee in Posted Public Comments to Texas Prosecutor Murders, from the hate group watchdog of civil rights attorneys @ the Southern Poverty Law Center. The strangest thing about these cases is that neither the two prosecutors, including the DA, assassinated nor the wife of the DA were Jewish, & yet their murders have drawn all these anti-Semites with their hateful remarks out of their slimy holes